Dear
Mark, My local casino in Sydney, Australia does not allow doubling down on
soft hands. Could you please advise me as to the basic strategy for playing
an A, 7 against a 6 or an A, 6 against a 4 in these circumstances? Should
I hit or stand? Also, my casino does not offer surrender on BJ, but does offer
insurance. We have only multiple deck games and you can only double down on
9,10, 11. If I play perfect basic strategy with these regulations in place,
is the casino percentage still below two percent? Cliff B.
Yes,
it is, Cliff. Even with Down Under rules like being able to double only on
9, 10, or 11, playing perfect basic strategy still reduces the casino advantage
to well under two percent. Now, in the specific hands you mention, on an Ace/7
against a six, you would stand, and for an ace/6 (soft 17) against a four,
you would always hit.
Here in the States,
where you can typically double on any two cards
on multiple decks, you would double down on both
of the hands you
mention. Regarding insurance, Cliff, I recommend
that you never take
it, and here's why. Most players tend to take insurance
when holding
face cards. But a moment's calm reflection, if you
please--who's
holding at least two of the cards the dealer needs
to make blackjack?
THE PLAYER! Far too many players automatically take
insurance if they
have a blackjack, or perhaps two face cards. In
reality, though I
still don't recommend it, it would make more sense
to make an
insurance bet if your hand contained no 10-valued
card, because that
10-valued card you don't hold could possibly be
the dealer's hole card.
As a matter of fact, insuring a hand composed of
two face cards on a
single deck game can be one of the worst bets in
the casino, giving
the casino a 14.3% edge.
